<p><em>SARASOTA COUNTY</em> - This county's top lenders started off the new year by making nearly as many loans as they did in December. But the dollar value of those loans dropped considerably.</p><p>The largest lenders made 662 loans, a 4 percent drop from a busy December, records show.</p><p>But the dollar value of the loans fell 26 percent, from $166.5 million in December to $123 million last month.</p><p>Topping the list by dollar volume was Wells Fargo, with 125 transactions valued at about $22 million. Next was Quicken Loans, with 111 loans valued at nearly $20 million.</p><p>JPMorgan Chase was third, with 120 loans valued at $17.2 million, while Bank of America was fourth, with 95 loans valued at $15.8 million.</p><p>Fifth was SunTrust Bank, with 79 loans worth $12.5 million. Next was PNC Bank, 21 loans, $8.3 million; CitiBank, 18 loans, $8 million; Fifth Third, 51 loans, $7.7 million; BB&T, 37 loans, $6 million; and Northern Trust, 5 loans, $5.6 million.</p><p>The top five lenders in December were similar: Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Quicken Loans, SunTrust and JPMorgan.</p>